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Democrats lead in voter registration in battleground states

By Julie PaceThe Associated Press

Posted:
10/12/2012 12:01:00 AM MDT

Updated:
10/12/2012 02:34:22 AM MDT

WASHINGTON — A robust registration push by President Barack Obama's re-election campaign has resulted in more Democrats than Republicans on the voter rolls in most battleground states, including Florida and Nevada, according to data from state election boards.

Republicans have had their own registration success, narrowing the Democratic voter advantage since 2008 in many of the battlegrounds, including Iowa. Party officials say they have put more resources into persuading independent voters who are already registered to cast their ballots for Republican Mitt Romney.

"We do not put as big an emphasis on voter registration programs as we do in talking to and persuading independents," said Rick Wiley, political director for the Republican National Committee.

Obama's campaign, which promoted the voter registration data Thursday, argues that its ability to register hundreds of thousands of new voters is indicative of battleground state field operations that also have the resources to get voters to the polls. Campaign officials say a deeper look at the registration numbers shows an uptick in new Latino voters and voters under the age of 30 — voting blocs where Obama has an advantage.

Registration edge

The most current data available online from state election boards give Democrats a registration advantage in most of the battleground states:

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